Nipper feed mechanism



June19, 1945- F. L. CROCKETT NIPPER FEED MECHANISM Original Filed Oct. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 19, 1945. CRQCKETT 2,378,465

NIPPER FEED MECHANISM Original Fi-led Oct. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-sheaf 2 ATTORNEYS Patented June 19,1945 v signor to Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Mass a corporation of Massachusetts Original application October 2, 1940, Serial No. 359,385, now Patent No. 2,353,812, dated July 18, 1944. Divided and this application August 13,

1942, Serial No. 454,747

4 Claims. (01. 19121) The invention relates to Heilmann type combers, being a division of my application Ser. No. 359,385, filed October 2, 1940, Patent No. 2,353,812,

to which reference may be had for any matter herein shown but not described;

The object of this invention is tosimplify and improve the nipper-feed mechanism in this type of comber, more particularly'the facilities for the adjustment thereof as well as its operation. The nipper-feed mechanism comprises a roller which takes the descending lap' of cotton or other fiber and advances it intermittently into the jaws of the nipper mechanism and it is of utmost importance that the adjustment springsapplied to each,

such roller, one at each end, shall be carefully and closely set. Correct adjustment can only be gauged by its effect when the comber-head is working and it is therefore very desirable that the adjustment can be made from the front of the machine, where the effect of changes can be closely and instantly observed. -However, in most comber designs such adjustment can only be made from the back of the machine and this makes it necessary for the attendant'to walk around the end of the machine, to the front side of it, in order to-observe the effect of any change of the spring -adjustment, which is inconvenient. In those special combers in which the feed roller holders are organized in the front of the head,a constructional difficulty is encountered in that the clearance required for accommodating their swinging movement, as they swing back and forth with the nipper frame, unduly increases the width of the head, making the machine longer besides requiring inconvenient locations of the top comb system in order to make room for the holders.

According to. this invention the nipper-feed roller holders are each constituted of a self-contained unit in the form of a bracket housing the spring which presses the roller against the lap and carrying a lever arm fulcrumed on it in which the feed roller is journalled, These bracket units are mounted in mid position on the nipper frame, on the side cheeks thereof, and have screws for adjusting their spring pressures which I are extended forwardly far enough so that the knurled heads of such screws are adjacent the ends of the nipper knife and therefore readily accessible from the front of the comber. The brackets thus located do not crowd the adjacent parts since they occupy spaces on the lower part of the nipper frame which would otherwise be vacant.

The invention thus involves a new principle of the mid-location for the spring holders with forwardly extended screws for the adjustment, that is to say, screws or regulating members which extend from'the spring holders toward the front of the comber.

In the accompanying drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively front and side elevations, partly in section, of a comber head in which the new feed roller mechanism is employed. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the nipper frame in larger scale and Fig. 4 a detail of the removable abutment for the pawl box.

- As shown in the drawings, the nipper frame 25 is carried by two front suspension links 26 pivoted at a high level on the frame uprights I almost directly over the comb cylinder [0, the pivot studs being marked 2'! and appearing in the drawings. The frame is pivotally supported in the lower ends of these front links by its two pivot studs 28 projecting from the cheeks or side walls of the nipper'frame. The rear part of the nipper frame is pivotally connected to and supported by the lower ends of a pair of crank arms 29 depending downwardly from a rock shaft 30, which is referred to as the nipper wag shaft. Its movement gives the nipper frame its oscillation toward and from the detaching mechanism.

The cushion plate 8 is bolted to the under side of the nipper frame in position to cooperate with the nipper knife 9 which swings on a pivotal axis marked 36 carried by the nipper frame. It is operated by the swinging movement of the frame, but the means for this purpose is not concerned with the subject of this invention. The knife itself is therefore omitted from Fig. 3.

The nipper feed-roller 5 is held by its gudgeons in the forward ends of two arms 5| which are fulcrumedat their rear ends, respectively, on the brackets 52, each of which brackets is bolted as by the bolt and slot connection 53 to the side of the nipper frame and preferably on the outer side, as indicated.

As thus held, the feed roller is situated over the projecting part of the cushion plate 8 and resting upon it. The forward end of each arm 5| carries a set screw 54 having a knurled head and thrusting against the head of a horizontal springpressed abutment or plunger 55 which is carried, with its spring, inside of the bracket 5.2. The pressure of this plunger, acting through the screw, presses the feed roller toward the cushion plate and against the lap thereon by the pressure of the springs and such pressure is obviously regulatable by adjustment, at each end, of the screw 54. These screws overlie the feed-roller gudgeons and can be as long as desired and therefore easily accessible from the front of the machine, at the ends of the nipper knife, so that adjustment can be made while the feeding action of the roller is under observation. Thus while the springs are located in mid position on the nipper frame, the adjusting means therefor are in the front of the machine;

Intermittent rotation is imparted to the feed roller so as to advance the lap into the nipper jaws, by means of a ratchet pawl box 55a mounted on one gudgeon of the roll, extended for that purpose, and being the left hand gudgeon in the present case. The pawl box is a usual construction and has an arm carrying a pin 56 (Fig. 1 and dotted lines in Fig. 2) which, as the nipper frame swings back and forth alternately, encounters normally fixed abutments 51 and 58 and is turned thereby on the gudgeon first in one direction and then in the other.

The front abutment 51 is adjustably attached as a bracket to the adjacent frame upright and the rear abutment 58 is formed by the front end face of a removable horizontal bar which has a fingerhole or grip at its rear end and rests on a ledge on the adjacent frame upright. It is normally held in working position by means of its notch fitting over the horizontal pin of another adjust able bracket 59. By means of its finger-hole it may be raised from the pin and withdrawn as indicated, thus obviously stopping the feeding of that particular combing head; By appropriate adjustment of the abutments 51 and 58 both the amount of lap feed on each swing or hip and the timing of such feed can be adjusted as desired. It is preferred to feed the lap by means of a feed roller cooperating with the cushion plate, but it will be apparent that the feeding system, above described, can be applied equally well to machines in which a lower feed roller is employed and the feed is independent of the cushion plate.

Parts of the combing machine in which the present invention is illustrated as employed but not directly related thereto include the following: the drive head mechanism comprising gears I2a, I5a, 91, 98, I21, I28, I08, I09, III), I20, I2I, I22, and I; the creel system comprising the parts 2, 3, 4, 6, I, 3 I, 32, 33, 34, 45, 46, 48 and 49; the nipper knife actuating mechanism 31, 38, 39, 40, III and 42; the top comb system I3, 6|, 62, 64, 65, 66, 61, 69 and III; the detaching and piecing system II, I2, I4, I5, I5, I8, 19, 80, 8|, 82, 81, 81a, 88 and 85;

and the delivery system I6, I1, I8, I8, 20, 90, 90a, 9|, 95, 96, H3, II3a, H5 and H9.

I claim:

1. In a comber, a swinging nipper frame, a lap feed roller thereon provided with a pawl and ratchet drive .mounted on one end thereof including an element alternately engaging relatively fixed abutments, thereby to rotate said roller, one of said abutments being formed by or on a member extendin from adjacent said feed roller to the rear of the comber and having means at the rear of the comber for adjusting its position with reference to said ratchet drive member.

2. In a comber having a swinging nipper frame carrying a nipper-knife, cushion-plate and a lap-feed roller, brackets on the side plates of the frame, roller-holding arms pivoted to said brackets, springs mounted on said brackets and thrusting horizontally to act on said arms and press said roller against the lap, and threaded spring-regulating means extending substantially horizontally and forwardly from said brackets and provided with operating heads located adjacent the ends of said nipper-knife.

3. In a comber having a swingingnipper frame carrying a nipper-knife, cushion-plate and a lapfeed roller, bracket housings fixedly but adjustably mounted on the side plates of said frame, roller-holding arms pivoted on said housings, springs mounted in substantiall horizontal positions within said housings and thrusting horizontally to act on said arms and press the roller against the lap, and threaded spring-regulating means extending substantially horizontally and forwardly from said housings and provided with operating heads located adjacent the ends of said nipper-knife.

4. In a comber having a swinging nipper frame carryin a nipper-knife, cushion-plate and a lapfeed roller, brackets on the side plates of the frame, roller-holding arms pivoted to said brackets, spring plungers mounted in substantially horizontal positions in said brackets and substantially horizontal thumb-screws carried on said arms and extending substantially horizontally rearwardly to receive the thrust of said plungers, whereby the arm are pressed downwardly, the

operating heads of said screws being located adjacent the ends of the nipper-knife.

FRANK L. CROCKETT. 

